The Korea Herald

Pope Francis is listening

Mar 10, 2014

The Pew Research Center poll released yesterday showing that American Catholics strongly favor allowing the use of birth control ― and allowing priests to marry and women to be ordained ― comes as no surprise. It has long been thus. Catholics also continue to give high marks to His Humbleness, Pope Francis, whose approval rating remains in the mid-80s, unchanged from a year ago. Even the fact that half of Catholics think the church should recognize same-sex marriage is old news, given past polls
[Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg] Key principles in disrupting Putin’s game plan

Mar 10, 2014

MUNICH ― No sooner did the Sochi Winter Games end than Russia bade farewell to the Olympic spirit by invading and occupying a foreign country. With its aggression against Ukraine, the Kremlin has breached the United Nations Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, and other international agreements, including the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances and the Black Sea basing agreement, which spelled out Russia’s relations with Ukraine.Crimea has been turned into a military zone, and its inhabitants
[David Ignatius] Obama’s Ukraine gamble

Mar 9, 2014

Since the Ukraine crisis began, Obama administration officials have talked about pushing Russia toward the “offramp” and de-escalation. That’s the best diplomatic outcome, but it will require an unlikely public reversal by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The premise of the administration’s approach is that Putin will decide that he made a mistake by seizing the Crimean region of Ukraine and, as he faces ever-greater costs, will negotiate a face-saving compromise, concluding that Russia’s inter
How Europe and the U.S. are losing Ukraine

Mar 9, 2014

There are heated debates here and abroad about what exact policies should be put in place in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity by sending Russian troops to Crimea. And although that debate is obviously important, we shouldn’t ignore the lessons from the past that brought us to this point and, in turn, should help guide policies going forward.The first is that Putin paid no price for the Russian invasion of Georgia i
Did North Korea recycle your laptop?

Mar 9, 2014

Did Kim Jong-un recycle your old laptop?That’s the question hovering over last week’s news that Chinese authorities had recently broken up an e-waste smuggling ring responsible for delivering 72,000 metric tons of prohibited junk via North Korea to China’s shores in 2013. Chinese news accounts hailed the bust as the biggest in recent e-waste history, requiring a four-month investigation involving 500 police officers. Most of the goods originated in Japan, with some also coming from the United St
[Yu Kun-ha] Time for political parties to finish their work

Mar 9, 2014

With the June 4 local elections still about three months away, rival political parties are already gripped by election fever. They are making all-out efforts to position themselves for the coming electoral battle, putting other important matters on the back burner.The main opposition Democratic Party is engrossed in creating a unified coalition party with an opposition group led by Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo. The party is desperate to merge with Ahn’s soon-to-be-created New Political Vision Party becaus
Reality check on Crimea

Mar 9, 2014

German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly told President Obama on Sunday that Vladimir Putin was out of touch with reality. When it comes to Ukraine, however, it’s not just Putin who seems to be operating in a parallel universe. In Washington, this crisis is causing politicians from both parties to lose their grip.I don’t just mean Republican hawks, who see an opportunity to bash Obama for foreign-policy weakness. Or Florida’s presidential hopeful, Sen. Marco Rubio, who opposed authorizing forc
[Marc Champion] Putin isn’t crazy, he’s KGB

Mar 7, 2014

On the road to Sevastopol, Russian flags and a Russian Orthodox cross adorn a checkpoint manned by Crimea’s pro-Russian civilian defense force. A banner announces: “Where We Are, There Is Russia.”That sentiment explains why we should all be concerned about what is happening in Crimea, even if, as seems increasingly possible, Russia’s intervention ends without bloodshed or formal annexation of the peninsula. The banner sets out the principle according to which Russian President Vladimir Putin is
Annexing Crimea will cost Putin dearly

Mar 7, 2014

Just when the crisis in Crimea appeared to be easing, it has suddenly grown more dangerous. In a decision that surprised even the peninsula’s pro-Russians, the local parliament has changed both the date and question for a referendum: On March 16, Crimea may vote to join Russia.Any plebiscite held within 10 days of its announcement is by definition a joke, yet the implications here are serious: No major country has annexed territory since World War II. Unless it can be prevented, the damage will
[Robert Reigh] Lousy work, lousy wages kill jobs

Mar 6, 2014

House Speaker John Boehner says raising the minimum wage is “bad policy” because it will cause job losses.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says a minimum wage increase would be a job killer. Republicans and the chamber also say unions are job killers, workplace safety regulations are job killers, environmental regulations are job killers, and the Affordable Care Act is a job killer. The California Chamber of Commerce even publishes an annual list of “job killers,” including almost any measures that
Strangelove logic may fuel Asia arms race

Mar 6, 2014

Let’s congratulate the real winners from China’s latest economic disclosures: Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman and European Aeronautics Defense and Space.Forget the Potemkin growth target Premier Li Keqiang served up today at the opening of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress. It’s always hard to take Chinese numbers seriously. Who among you economists really believe Chinese leaders can simultaneously “declare war” on the pollution choking Beijing and Sh
China warned not to push Philippines to the wall

Mar 6, 2014

The strong diplomatic protest against China’s water-cannon attack on Filipino fishers on Jan. 27 in Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea was followed by an announcement by the armed forces of the Philippines that the disputed islet, which Manila claims as Bajo de Masinloc, would now be under the jurisdiction of the Western Command.The shift sent a strong signal that the Philippines was using all its diplomatic and military resources, no matter how limited, to protect its fishers from Chi
[Jonathan Eyal] Asia can learn from German model of contrition

Mar 6, 2014

Diplomats are paid to dream up clever ways of promoting their country’s interests. But occasionally, diplomatic ingenuity can go too far, as a team of Chinese diplomats tasked with planning President Xi Jinping’s forthcoming visit to Germany recently discovered.Beijing offered to set aside a big chunk of President Xi’s visit to commemorative events praising the way Germany dealt with its historic responsibility for World War II. Chinese officials assumed that this would please their German hosts
Vandalism of Anne Frank books a blow against intellectual heritage

Mar 6, 2014

Who was behind the many recent acts of vandalism against books relating to Anne Frank, and why did they do it? This sort of criminality can never be pardoned.At public libraries and bookstores in and outside of Tokyo, Japanese-language copies of “The Diary of a Young Girl,” which tells of Nazi Germany’s persecution of the Jewish people, and related books have been found vandalized with pages ripped out. All told, the number of books damaged exceeded 300.Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga exp
[David Ignatius] Russian leader’s mistake

Mar 5, 2014

WASHINGTON ― Napoleon is said to have cautioned during an 1805 battle: “When the enemy is making a false movement, we must take good care not to interrupt him.” The citation is also sometimes rendered as “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” Whatever the precise wording, the admonition is a useful starting point for thinking about the Ukraine situation.Vladimir Putin has made a mistake invading Crimea, escalating a crisis for Russia that has been brewing for many months. It m